I got to take these guys for a spin last fall in January. They pretty much feel how you'd think they feel -- a bit bulky. Get over that, and having the equivalent of an 80-inch display projected in front of your peepers is a pretty cool, if not entirely practical, idea.

With the glasses and earbuds over and in their respective orifices, you hold in your hand a controller (about the size of an old-school, original iPod) that connects to the glasses via a wire. The top half of the controller is a trackpad, for moving a cursor around the heads-up display. There are the usual Android buttons as well, and a directional-pad if that's how you prefer to navigate the menus. There's also a button to toggle between 2D and 3D modes.

So how'd it work? Look, it's a novelty, to be sure. But it's also one that was a bit surprising. It takes a minute to get used to the idea of video that close to your eyes. But even the 3D video we watched caused less strain than when we've tried it on smartphones. Another cool effect of the glasses is that you can remove the opaque lenses and actually see through the UI. Not that you're going to want to be walking and playing anytime soon, but the idea is that you lose some of the claustrophobia. The world is still the world.

The user interface we saw back in January October was very much in prototype mode, so it was a bit janky, a mix of stock Android and something custom. But it also was very familiar and easy to find our way around.

Do you want one of these? It's certainly a fun idea, but you're going to need to have some cash burning a hole in your pocket, as it's going for a suggested retail price of $699. But think of the possibilities. Temple Run. At 80 inches. Angry Birds IN YOUR FACE. Or, you know, (warning: Shameless plug ahead) the all new Android Central Forums app.

We've got more pics and video after the break.

Edit: Oh, how time blends together. Saw this guy in January, not October. Carry on.

Android 4.04 (IMM76) Software Update for the Motorola XOOM™ WIFI users in the US

Introduction

We are pleased to announce a new software update for the Motorola XOOM™ WIFI in the US. This Android 4.04 (IMM76) software update by Motorola includes numerous enhancements. Upgrade today for peak performance.

For more information on Motorola updates and product support, please visit us at: www.motorola.com/support

Who Can Use This Release

ALL Motorola XOOM — US WIFI users

After downloading and installing the software release, you will notice:

Enhancements:

Quicker screen rotation

A new setting to choose whether the power button immediately locks the device or not

Microsoft Exchange improvements with additional EAS policies

Better phone number recognition

Camera and image quality improvements

Improved stability

The update isn't currently showing up for me right now, but we'll update the post when some more people actually start to see it arriving. Either way, it's on it's way and it should be here soon. If you see it hit your device drop us a note in the comments or in the forums.

Good news for anyone looking to get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich on some of LG's latest hardware -- CyanogenMod 9 nightlies are now rolling out for the (GSM) LG Optimus LTE and its AT&T-branded counterpart, the Nitro HD. With its 720p display and 1.5GHz dual-core OMAP chip, vanilla Android 4.0 should feel right at home on the Nitro HD and Optimus LTE. We're sure owners of rooted devices will be eager to try out the latest builds of the popular custom firmware as they appear.

A word of warning, though -- CM9 nightly builds are early, experimental builds which may contain bugs, missing features or other undesirables. That's the price you pay for running a bleeding edge custom ROM based on the latest version of Android. If you understand what you're getting into, then you'll find download info over at the source link.

Samsung boasts 5 million Galaxy Notes sold worldwide

It's been less than a month since we heard reports of Samsung selling its second million Galaxy Note, but already the manufacturer's official numbers have reached more than double that. Today Samsung Korea has revealed that it's sold 5 million Galaxy Notes worldwide. The new figure means the manufacturer's well on its way to reaching its reported 2012 target of 10 million global Note sales.

The 5.3-inch Galaxy Note, which launched in Europe in late October, will have seen a boost in sales following its launch in North America last month. Despite its enormous size and focus on pen input, it's proved to be a surprising success, shifting over 1 million units in Europe and Asia by the end of 2011, before reaching the 5 million milestone after its fifth month on sale. Even elephants are getting in on the stylus-based action.

Late-night poll: How important is a removable battery to you?

Android hardware improves at an incredible rate. It seems like yesterday we all were ecstatic about the release of the HTC EVO 4G with it's 4.3-inch display, 1GHz CPU, and front facing camera. I know I waited in line the first day to get mine, and plenty of other smartphone lovers did the same. But look at phones today -- if the OG EVO were to be released tomorrow, we would have to call it "low-end" based on specs of upcoming devices. It's crazy.

While screens, processors, and the OS itself seem to iterate as fast as we can think about it, one thing has lagged behind -- battery technology. Gone are the days when you charged your cell phone every other day, and most of us put our phones on the charger every night (or more often). It's just how it has to be, and there's no use arguing about it. Until recent devices like the Motorola Droid RAZR and the upcoming HTC One series, we've had the luxury to carry a spare battery along if we think we'll need it. As we squeeze more into our phones, we may see a removable battery as the exception and not the rule. We'll have to adapt as best we can, and of course batteries will be bigger and slightly more efficient. But just how important is having a removable battery to you? When we ask ourselves these questions, and want to know the answers, we ask. Let us know in the poll, and comment after the break if you need to expand your answer a bit.

Evernote rolls out another update, adds speech-to-text and widget themes to the mix

Evernote has been spending some quality time with their app and giving it lots of love lately. The latest updated has already rolled on out to the Google Play Store and this one isn't just a small bug fix release. It adds quite a few enhancements to the app overall with one of those enhancements being speech-to-text, which is sure to please a lot of users:

Speech-to-text: we've added speech recognition; as you speak, the app will add your words into the note as though manually typed.

Widget enhancements: The widget app (downloaded separately) can now be customized (color, buttons, note size), includes a tiny widget, and quick snapshot functionalities.

Stability and bug fixes are listed to make up the rest of the change log for everyone. If you're looking for the download link, you'll find it past the break. Plus, you can grab the stand alone widget app from here, in the Google Play Store.

CM9 source code now available for the HTC Sensation

If you're rocking the HTC Sensation (a.k.a. the Pyramid for you geekier types), here's a bit of news that should interest you -- the CyanogenMod team has made the "official" CM9 repos for both the Pyramid and the MSM8660 chipset common files available and open to the public. There's no official release candidate for the Sensation just yet, as there are a few kernel bugs the team wants to iron out before releasing an official CM build, but this means that your favorite ROM developer now has access to what many feel is the cream-of-the-crop in third party Android development -- CM sources.

We've seen ICS builds leak for the the Pyramid, and these no doubt helped push along the development. But if you've been waiting for a Sense-free build of Android 4.0 for your Sensation, the end is in sight. Keep an eye on your favorite developer, and get ready to start flashing.

Google Play Movies updated, Sony and Archos tablet crashes fixed

The Google Movies Google Play Movies app for Android has been updated with a compatibility fixes for some Honeycomb tablets. Today's update fixes an issue which could cause the app to crash on certain devices, including Sony's Tablet S and Archos' 80 G9 tablets. If you've affected by random crashes in the Play Movies app, you'll want to grab the update now from the Google Play Store.

Google Movies became Google Play Movies a few weeks ago, as part of Google's rebranding of all its content delivery services. Alongside Play Movies, Google Music became Google Play Music, Google Books became Google Play Books, and so on. You get the idea. Aside from some shiny new app icons, everything works just as it did before.

We've got the usual web links and QR code for the Google Play Movies app after the break.

One X audio chipset questions, Apps to SD on ICS [From the Forums]

With plenty of leaks, apps and news happening today if you happened to miss out anything you'll want to get yourself caught up. Unless of course what you missed out on was Google IO tickets, good luck there! Once you're all caught up on the news, head on into the Android Central forums:

Video hands-on demo of Temple Run for Android

Temple Run for Android is finally here and if you're still not sure what all the fuss is about, have a look at the video demo above to get a better a look at the game. Granted, I'm not the best at playing but hey -- I just got it, cut me some slack. You'll find the link to Temple Run beyond the break if you're looking to get in on the action as well.

HTC One S spotted running T-Mobile software

T-Mobile has long since confirmed the HTC One S would be coming to their network and we've gone hands-on with the device plenty of times already. However, there hasn't been a whole lot of video popping up with the device actually running T-Mobile software. A new video found on YouTube gives us all a good look at it though if you're into teasing yourself with devices you can't yet have. No telling how old the software is though given the device is still lacking any T-Mobile branding. And yes, we did giggle at the "Mobile World Convention" comment.

Harry Potter eBooks finally arrive, compatible with Google Play

How is it the old saying goes -- the best things come to those who wait? The wait for the Harry Potter eBook series to go on sale has certainly been long. Originally we were expecting them back in October. But, for whatever reason that date slipped, and slipped, and now finally today is the day. The eBook store over on the Pottermore site has finally gone live, for Muggles across the world to get their electronic fix.

As previously reported, the books are available to read in your Google Play Books application, right on your Android device. In fact, you can also purchase and read them in your Kindle application, right on your Android device. The only drawback remains, that you can only actually purchase anything from the Pottermore website. So how do you retrieve your fix of Hogwarts from there? Stick around, we've got you covered.

Here's a video of an elephant playing with a Samsung Galaxy Note

Samsung's spent a lot of time and money marketing the Galaxy Note, its 5.3-inch phone-tablet hybrid device. It brought in director Bobby Farrelly to create last month's star-studded Super Bowl commercial, and poked fun iPhone users in a string of TV ads. And for its latest trick, it's sent the Note to Thailand to meet Peter the Elephant.

"Bigger is better" is Samsung's message here, and the video shows Peter using his trunk (and the stylus) to operate the Note's spacious 5.3-inch touchscreen. The ad agency behind the clip says the footage is all real, with no "trickery, post-production or hidden cuts", adding "he's just a very clever elephant."

If you've ever wanted to see a massive tusked beast making music, drawings and taking photos on a larger-than-average smartphone, then we've got a treat for you waiting after the break.

Check out the new Android Central forums app!

As you're no doubt aware, the Android Central Forums are the friendliest and most helpful Android community around. And now there's an even easier way to check up on the latest discussion, post threads and manage your private messages when you're out and about.

Introducing the new Android Central Forums app! Based on the Tapatalk mobile forum browsing standard, the AC Forums app is the easiest way to enjoy the full forum experience on your Android phone. In addition to being able to read and post messages, you can also tag your favorite forums to make them easier to find, and search threads and posts from within the app.

If you're an AC forum regular, you need this on your phone. And if you're not, then registration is easy and free. We've got Google Play Store links after the break. If you've tried the new app, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments down below.